Never Surrender
by Icy Rundas
Summary: Asuma has been a Jonin for a long time, but what did he do before he became Team Ten's sensei? He taught genin Raimi Hamato. What did he teach her? The main thing was to never surrender. AxOC
1. Raimi's New Sensei

Never Surrender

Summary: Asuma has been a Jonin for a long time, but what did he do before he became Team Ten's sensei? He taught genin Raimi Hamato. What did he teach her? The main thing was to never surrender.

I remember the first time I met him like it only a few moments had past. Who wouldn't? He was a very memorable person...at least, to me he was. I mean, how many ninja do you know that smoke a lot? Not many. Anyway, I was nineteen, almost twenty, and I had gone through several different teachers before him. All my previous teachers had only one thing in common: they all thought that I was unteachable. I had even gone through "the Great Ebisu". All their teaching methods were different, but, for some reason, they just couldn't teach me. I had many meetings with Hokage, trying to decide what to do with me. Then there was a meeting one afternoon with one Jonin I had never seen before. He was leaning up against the wall nearby, smoking a cigarette. I sat in a chair near Lord Hokage's desk.

"Good afternoon, Raimi."

"Hello, Lord Hokage," I replied pleasantly, but with a little vigilance. The Jonin on the wall, I did not know, so I remained guarded during the remainder of my meeting with the Hokage.

"Raimi, you have gone through six different teachers, including Ebisu and Iruka Umino. Do you know why this has happened?" I shook my head sadly.

"I'm sorry, Lord Hokage. I don't know why I'm so unteachable." He stared at me thoughtfully for a minute or so. Then, he smiled.

"Raimi, this man will be your new teacher. He is good at what he does and I am positive that you will be able to keep this one, for a while at least." I stood up and turned to the man, looking him over. He did the same to me. He got up from his position on the wall and made for the door. I sent a look toward the Hokage, who nodded, telling me without words to follow the man. I watched him walk away for a moment, and then I ran after him. He went all the way to one of the training fields and I had to run to keep up with his long strides. He stopped abruptly and turned and I had to skid to a stop to avoid running into him.

"All right. Start with your name, and then we'll go from there."

"Uh…my name is, uh…Raimi Hamato, and I'm a genin."

"How old are you?"

"N-Nineteen, almost twenty."

"Hmm…that sounds about right. What's your specialty?"

"Um…I specialize in…nin-jutsu and…" I finished saying the last part under my breath.

"I didn't quite catch that."

"T-Time bending…I'm a time-bender…" He raised an eyebrow.

"Uh huh…I see. Well, I guess I should tell you who I am since I'll be teaching you from here on out. Name's Asuma Sarutobi, and I'm a Jonin. And when I'm done with you, you'll be a very capable kunoichi. We're done for today. Come back here tomorrow at dawn." I got the feeling that he didn't like me too much.

"O-Okay. Uh…bye." I walked away as fast as I could. When I was away from his range of sight, I slipped behind a tree and put my hand to my fluttering heart.

"Why does this always happen?" I asked myself. I had always thought that my teachers gave up on me because I…isolated myself from others and because I appeared so hesitant all the time. I felt a drop of water on my nose and looked up. I groaned in annoyance when I saw that the clouds had gotten dark and it had started raining. I closed my eyes for a moment, and then took off to my house, hoping I wouldn't get soaked from the coming storm. I got to my door and fumbled with the key. When I finally got inside, I shook the water from my hair and sauntered into my room to find some dry clothes. I pulled on my pajamas and went to the window. I sat on the windowsill and stared out at the rain for hours, lost in my thoughts. A bolt of lightning struck right by my window and shook me out of my thoughts. I went to my bed and laid down, falling asleep after a while.

* * *

I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock. I smacked the off button and climbed unsteadily out of bed. I went into my closet and pulled some training clothes out. My outfit consisted of a durable light purple short kimono and cream colored obi with a pair of black shorts underneath. After pulling them on, I stared at my appearance in the mirror. I sighed. I looked mature enough, but yet, still childlike somehow. 'Maybe it's my hair…' My headband usually remained around my neck, but I was thinking about changing its location to make me look older. I brushed my bangs out of the way and gathered them on the right, putting a ribbon around them. I tied my headband around my head. 'That's better.' I smiled slightly as I went into the kitchen and rapidly threw some cereal down my throat. I pulled my sandals on and left my house, locking the door behind me. I strolled briskly to the training field, and was surprised to see that my new sensei had not arrived yet. I climbed up on a low tree branch and decided to watch the sunrise.

"Come down from there." I almost fell out of the tree. I was so enraptured by the gorgeousness of the sunrise I didn't hear my sensei approach. I climbed out of the tree and came to rest in front of him.

"Good…morning, Sensei." He nodded in response.

"We'll be doing something moderately easy today. I've decided to start you off with some evasion practice." I nodded.

"Don't assume I'll go easy on you just because this is the first real day of training." He allowed me to move back a few paces. Then he came at me fast. I scarcely had time to get out of the way of his fist. He was extraordinarily fast for someone so tall, and it was tremendously difficult for me to keep away from him. Each time I thought I was far enough away, he was right there to keep me on my toes. He was exhausting me. Fast. He had come close to hitting me a number of times, but I was timely enough to escape his blows each instance. Until his foot caught me callously in the side and he slammed his fist into my stomach. I doubled over on my hands and knees, desperate to catch my breath. When I finally did, I shakily stood and prepared myself for another onslaught. I was all over the place, trying to keep from getting hit again. I thought I was doing pretty well until I blocked one hit near my head and he countered it with a blow to my shoulder. I was sent flying sideways. I stared up at the sky for second, and then got back on my feet. We trained like this for what seemed like forever, but turned out to be only a few hours. By that time, I was gasping to catch my breath like a fish out of water. I looked up at him, only a few feet over. He looked like he had barely broken a sweat.

"On your feet." I pulled myself with the help of a nearby tree, and used it to steady myself.

"Not as bad as I was told you would be, but you can do better. Eh, we're done for today. Come back same time tomorrow."

"Y-Yes, Sensei," I wheezed. When I went home, I turned on the shower. I now had a black-and-blue shoulder, and a nice purple and black bruise to match on my stomach.

"Damn, he can hit hard…" I sighed and stepped into the hot water, hoping it would wash away my insecurities, which to my disappointment, it didn't. When I was finished, I dried off and pulled some clean pajamas on, not feeling like going anywhere. I went into my room and found my bed, lying on it and staring at the ceiling like I did almost every night until I fell asleep.


	2. Raimi's Revelation

Summary: Asuma has been a Jonin for a long time, but what did he do before he became Team Ten's sensei? He taught genin Raimi Hamato. What did he teach her? The main thing was to never surrender.

When I woke up the next morning to the brilliant incessant beeping of my alarm clock, I was sore as hell and slightly unhappy. I laid in bed with my arms spread out, staring at the ceiling, debating whether I ought to get up or not. After a few minutes of my internal struggle, I slowly untangled myself from my blanket and got up. I pulled my clothes on and ran my fingers through my unruly morning hair. I went over to where I had left my shoes by the door and slipped them on, grabbed an apple from the counter, and locked the door behind me as I left. I ate it while I ambled mindlessly toward the training field. When I got there, he wasn't there, just like the day before. I sighed and sat down at the base of a nearby tree. I picked at some blades of grass as I finished my apple. When I was finished, I picked out the seeds and dropped them into the soil.

"I see you're here on time. Good."

"Oh, g-good morning, Sensei." He answered me like he had the previous day, with a curt nod.

"We'll be doing some more evasive training today. Got it?" I nodded. Unlike yesterday, he didn't give me a head start and came at me before I had a chance to prepare myself. I blocked his kick with both arms, so I didn't even notice his fist until it collided with the side of my head. I sprawled over sideways on the ground, holding my head and trying to stop my world from spinning. As soon as I stood up, he was on me again, and showing no signs of slowing down. By the time it had started to get remotely dark, I was spent, and I was positive that he was unhappy with my performance for the day. I now sported several new bruises in places I didn't know could bruise, and my self-esteem had been shattered by the way he literally kicked me around all day. I was laying eagle-spread on the ground, and really didn't feel like getting up.

"I'm not going to lie to you. You did horribly today. What happened?" He stood over with a raised eyebrow and an expression that looked like a cross between annoyed, irritated, and disappointed. I looked up at him and shook my head.

"I…I don't know, Sensei." He raised an eyebrow and shook his head.

"I was hoping that you would turn out differently, but…I suppose we can try again tomorrow, but if you don't start showing signs of improvement soon…" He regarded me silently for a few seconds and then walked away. I sat up gingerly and tried to stand up. That failed miserably as one of my knees gave way. I tried it a second time, and when I hit the ground again, I gave up. My eyes started to tear up, and I didn't care if anyone was around to see it or not. I let myself cry.

"Why…why am I not strong enough…? Why…why can't I show him that I'm not weak…?" I slammed my clenched fist into the ground.

"WHY AM I SO WEAK?" I struggled a third time to pull myself to my feet and I managed to stay upright this time. I wiped my eyes on my sleeve and put my fingers together.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" I produced a single clone to help me out.

"I can't let another person give up on me, clone…I just...can't." She nodded happily, and we began to train some more. When I was satisfied enough with my handiwork, my clone disappeared after giving me a thumbs up. I smiled to myself as I trudged slowly home. When I got to my house, I unlocked the door and passed out on the couch. When I woke up, I rubbed my eyes and went into my bathroom, turning on my shower. I got in and let the warm water caress my battered body. I shampooed and rinsed my hair and got out of the shower, feeling slightly better than I did the night before. I dried myself off and put on some fresh clothes. Then I went into my kitchen and scarfed down some leftover ramen from my fridge. When I was finished, I pulled on my shoes and headed for the training grounds. When I got there, I decided to start early, instead of waiting on Asuma-sensei.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" She grinned at me, and we began to practice like we had the previous night and I talked to my clone while we trained.

"Yeah, I don't think he likes me at all…what do you think, clone?"

"I just think he needs to get used to us, Raimi, that's all."

"Maybe, but Iruka-sensei was so nice about it, even when he was telling me that he couldn't teach me any more. Asuma-sensei just seems…like he doesn't want any part of teaching me anything…" My clone shrugged, and we continued to train until I felt something pungent come into my nostril cavities.

"Clone, do you smell th- never mind, you can't smell anything, you're a clone." I heard quiet mirth from behind a tree and I realized what I had smelled.

"S-Sensei, you don't have to hide behind trees to laugh at my idiocy…" He stepped out from behind the tree, still laughing.

"Did you forget that you were training with a clone?" He stopped laughing after a few minutes and looked toward me seriously.

"All right, let's get started. Same thing we've been doing for the past two days." Like yesterday, he gave me no warning, but this time, I was ready. I back flipped away from his fist with practiced ease, and when he came at me again, I ducked and kept going. By the end of the day, the both of us, not just me this time, were practically out of breath. The atmosphere was still apart from us trying to regain our composure. Then, he spoke.

"What happened today? You were completely out of it yesterday, and today, you managed to give me a run for my money." I looked up to see him staring at me intently.

"When you left yesterday, I decided that I wasn't going to be weak any more…I decided that I wasn't going to let you, or anyone be disappointed in me ever again."

"Right…you were right, you know. I didn't want any part in training you, but now, I think I might change my mind." I don't even think that I registered the fact that he had heard me talking to my clone. The only thing I heard was what he said at the end. My eyes widened noticeably.

"Do…do you really mean that, Asuma-sensei?" He nodded. I thought I was going to cry again, but I didn't. I dashed over and tackled him into a hug.

"Hey, get off me!"

"Thank you, sensei!"

"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome; now get off so we can train some more." I got off of him with a small blush.

"S-Sorry." I extended my hand to help him up and he took it. When I pulled him up, he put his hands in his pockets.

"All right, since you seem to have evasion down, we can start on something else. Like frontal attacks, for example." I nodded, but frowned internally. I had never been too good at tai-jutsu. He looked up at the sky.

"Hmm…didn't notice it had gotten this late. Tell you what; we can start on that tomorrow."

"Okay, Sensei." I made to turn around and walk off, but his voice stopped me.

"Hey, do you feel like meeting some people?" I turned back around. I was a bit sore still, but, hey, he was asking, so…why not?

"Uh, sure."


	3. Raimi's Trip to the Bar

Summary: Asuma has been a Jonin for a long time, but what did he do before he became Team Ten's sensei? He taught genin Raimi Hamato. What did he teach her? The main thing was to never surrender.

*** The line denotes a point of view change. ***

I trailed him into the heart of the village, all the way to a small bar. I scrunched up my nose at the scent of alcohol; I had had it before, but it was rare that I drank, so I wasn't very used to the smell.

"Hey, guys." Four people turned around, only one of which I recognized.

"About time. We thought you weren't coming." My teacher rolled his eyes.

"I got held up with something. Listen. This is Raimi Hamato." An eccentric man clad all in green stood up and pointed at me.

"You must be his protégé!" I meeped and hid behind Asuma.

"Calm down, Gai, you're scaring Raimi. Hello, Rai, how have you been?" I peeked around my current teacher to answer my previous teacher.

"I-I've been okay, Iruka-senpai, thanks for asking."

"Raimi, this is Gai, Kakashi, and Kurenai, and you already know Iruka." I stepped out from behind him and waved shyly.

"Hello, everyone."

"Yo," the silver-haired man said.

"You are quite the youthful one!" the eccentric man in green told me with a thumbs up.

"Hey," the red-eyed woman said quietly. I talked with Iruka for a few minutes, and then a quick look at the clock made me realize that it was getting late. I stepped out of the light of the bar and into the street.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, but it's getting late. Sensei? I'll meet you at the training field in the morning, right?"

"Yeah. Don't be late." I smiled and waved.

"Goodbye everyone. Good night, Sensei." With that, I took off to my house for the night.

I sat down between Gai and Kakashi.

"Well, she was cute!" Gai told me with a large smile. I rolled my eyes again at his random comment.

"No, he's actually right this time. She was pretty cute." Kakashi agreed with him? That was a first. The comment made me laugh.

"I don't think she would appreciate you two calling her cute," Iruka put in.

"No, she wouldn't," I responded

"How old is she?"

"Almost twenty. Leave her alone," I told them, a slight edge to my voice. That comment made Gai and Kakashi both laugh aloud.

"Aww, you're protective of her! That's cute." I sighed and blew out a puff of smoke.

"She's my student, why wouldn't I be a bit protective of her? And by the way, she wouldn't like either of you. You both show off too much…"

"Yeah, whatever," Kakashi said. I could tell that this wasn't going to be the end of this discussion.

"I do not show off too much!" Gai yelled, dramatic tears now clouding his eyes.

"You're doing it right now." This came from Kurenai with a smirk, and it was the first thing she had said since her introduction to Raimi. Her words threw Gai into silence for once.

"…" Kakashi clapped me on the back.

"Hey, we actually got him to shut up! That's a first." Gai stood up and tackled Kakashi out of the bar. I rolled my eyes and stood up.

"Iruka, Kurenai, I'll see you later."

"What, you're leaving already? You just got here." I put my hand up.

"Meh…I'm tired. She gave me a run for my money today…" Iruka smiled.

"So she's doing alright?"

"More than all right. She's not that bad, actually."

"Good. She's always been so…awkward. I hope that this time she'll stick with someone." I nodded.

"Yeah, well…later." I walked off, leaving Kakashi and Gai to fight it out on the ground. I was only a little tired; I just didn't want to be seen in public with the two idiots on the ground. I wondered briefly if Raimi had gotten home yet, and…where she lived for that matter.

* * *

As I wandered through the village on my way home, I thought about how things were going. I smiled when I realized that Sensei had started opening up to me. That was a good sign, right? I thought so. It meant that he didn't hate me at any rate. I thought back to our training. He was so strong and the bruises he had given me on the first day we had trained were still painful to mess with. I rubbed my left shoulder where he had hit me on the first day of our training. 'Maybe…maybe this is the beginning of something…Iruka-senpai seems to think I'll stick with Asuma-sensei for a while, and I trust his judgment. Good. I…I like Asuma. He won't go easy on me. And…I think that's what I needed the whole time...'

As I was walking, I passed two boys walking together. They were young, and looked like they were Academy students. A small smile appeared on my lips. They looked like they would become strong in no time. And they were friends. My smile became slightly sad. Their friendship was lovely, but only reminded me of the friends I never had in my own Academy days. I sighed and pushed my way through the crowd of people walking the streets, making my way to my house.

The house I lived in was small since I lived by myself. Before becoming a genin, I had lived with my father on our family's small compound near the east border of the village. After I graduated, my father, being an already retired ninja, had decided to travel and leave me to my ninja life inside the village. It wasn't that he hadn't loved me, I knew he did, it was that I reminded him of my mother. And it was hard for him to stay in the village for so long. So…he traveled. The last time I had heard from him, he had been visiting Suna. And now…I wasn't exactly sure where my father was. I wasn't worried for him. Just…concerned. I missed my father, though I wasn't completely sure he missed me. It had been years since I had last seen him, and many months since I had received his letter from Suna. The house I now lived in reminded me slightly of the compound and just how empty and quiet it was with only me there, but at least my current house was closer to other people. It wasn't as…lonely. _I_ wasn't as lonely. And I hoped that learning under Asuma would break the loneliness even more. It had already started to break, with him accepting me and even introducing me to some of the people he knew. I certainly had a long way to go, but this…this was a start. A good start.


End file.
